Institute Warns `Buzzploitation of Minors' a Dangerous Trend.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Responding to the growing threat of Internet marketing firms employing minors in sophisticated "word of mouth" campaigns, the National Institute on Media and the Family has launched an investigation into whether some marketers are exploiting children and even exposing them to online predators.

Dr. David Walsh, President of the National Institute on Media and the Family, said Institute researchers have found some marketing firms that are exposing young people to adult-oriented concepts and products, exploiting minors as an inexpensive and unsuspecting distribution force, and creating forums that are easy targets for child predators.

"The Institute has already expressed concerns over Internet advertising to children," Dr. Walsh said. "Now we're finding some marketers are pushing the envelope even further. Not only are they advertising to kids, they're using minors to promote their products to unsuspecting peers."

"We want parents to pay attention to what their children are doing on the Internet. But it is also critical that marketing firms that recruit minors to work on these campaigns recognize the danger in their practices," Dr. Walsh continued.

In an effort to capitalize on the lucrative youth consumer market, Dr. Walsh explained some marketing firms have created enticing web sites that attract minors by offering free gifts and the opportunity to meet new friends if they register as "secret agents." Once enrolled, the firms send them free products to promote online and offline among friends, family and peers.

"They prey upon the desire of young people to be hip and part of the in-crowd. After they've signed up, they enter a new world of slick marketing - one that could be navigated easily by most discerning adults, but not by minors," Dr. Walsh said.

The Institute's initial research suggests some of the buzz marketers campaigns violate important guidelines initiated by the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU), Dr. Walsh said. Because young people have limited capacity for evaluating the credibility of information they receive from advertisements, the guidelines were developed by the National Advertising Review Council (NARC) to encourage marketers to approach the youth demographic with a sense of responsibility and an awareness of the vulnerability of the population to exploitation and manipulation. Specifically, CARU states certain "techniques which may be appropriate for adult-directed advertising may mislead children if used in child-directed advertising."

"Many marketers know the Internet can be a vital tool to reach potential customers, especially through viral marketing," said Steve Collins, President and CEO of Martin/Williams, a Minneapolis-based advertising firm. "As the demand for this kind of tool grows, so should the demand for greater control and responsibility when it comes to abiding by standards and guidelines of the Children's Advertising Review Unit. Marketers need to take an active role in policing their Internet practices, especially when it comes to steering children toward inappropriate messages and products."

Through its on-going investigation, the Institute has found:

By recruiting minors for online viral advertising campaigns, marketers sometimes expose them and their friends to sexually explicit information, age inappropriate language, and sexual images. When these recruitment efforts involve a centralized website, on which young people can communicate with each other, marketers open the virtual door to predatory adults who use the Internet to stalk children, especially young girls, Dr. Walsh said.

Upon registering as a 13-year-old girl at soulkool.com, a researcher received a welcoming email from the buzz marketer who suggested one could "get to know and flirt with other visitors" at the web site. Once in the chat room, the "13-year-old girl" was first approached by another individual who used the screen name "sexbomb3000."

As part of another marketing campaign, the administrators of Procter & Gamble's Tremor.com sent a "13-year-old boy" an email with the subject "Got Girls?" and explained, "Tremor and Old Spice need you to create the first-ever Red Zone Girls calendar. That means loads of gorgeous girls for you to check out and vote on." The Old Spice Red Zone body wash campaign has included racy television advertising images and adult concepts.

"These are frightening examples of marketers exposing young people to age-inappropriate adult concepts while also providing forums that could attract child predators," Dr. Walsh says.

Dr. Walsh said unethical tactics employed by these firms inherently teach minors lessons of deception and dishonesty. For instance, a code of conduct published on the web site of BzzAgent.com explains their "agents" should use "discretion" and decide "carefully" whether to reveal to friends and family what they are doing. "Some people might think it's cool. Other people might not understand," the web site advises.

Generally, the marketing firms' websites do not require parental consent or proof of age. In fact, on at least one of the sites, simply changing the year of one's birth date allows an individual who first registers as a 10-year-old to re-register as an older child. The "Girls Intelligence Agency" reportedly recruits girls as young as eight to participate in their "slumber party" and obtain promotional giveaways, Dr. Walsh said.

Even when parental consent is solicited, it is likely parents agree to their children participating in general campaigns, but are not given an opportunity to approve specific promotions. And the parents of children approached by friends acting on behalf of marketers are never given a chance to provide or withhold their consent.

"These practices would never be accepted by most Americans if they knew what was going on," Dr. Walsh noted. "We are going to expose these practices to the light of day."

For interviews with Dr. David Walsh regarding the "buzzploitation of minors," please see contact information above.

The National Institute on Media and the Family is an independent non-partisan, non-sectarian, nonprofit organization. Its MediaWise movement is being adopted in communities throughout the country to maximize the benefits and minimize the harm of media on children. For more information, please visit www.mediafamily.org on the Web or call 1-888-672-5437.